Work

The importance of surfaces in single-molecule bioscience

Year: 2008

Type: article

Abstract: The last ten years have witnessed an explosion of new techniques that can be used to probe the dynamic behavior of individual biological molecules, leading to discoveries that would not have been possible with more traditional biochemical methods. A common feature among these single-molecule approaches is the need for the biological molecules to be anchored to a solid support surface. This must be done under conditions that minimize nonspecific adsorption without compromising the biological integrity of the sample. In this review we highlight why surface attachments are a critical aspect of many single-molecule studies and we discuss current methods for anchoring biomolecules. Finally, we provide a detailed description of a new method developed by our laboratory for anchoring and organizing hundreds of individual DNA molecules on a surface, allowing "high-throughput" studies of protein-DNA interactions at the single-molecule level.

Source: Molecular BioSystems

DOI: 10.1039/b800444g

Authors: Mari-Liis Visnapuu, Daniel Duzdevich, Eric C Greene

Institution: Columbia University

Language: English

Topic: Force Microscopy Techniques and Applications

Subfield: Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics

Field: Physics and Astronomy

Domain: Physical Sciences

Open Access status: green

Funders: National Science Foundation, National Institute of General Medical Sciences

Award: Elucidating the Mechanisms of DNA Recombination